Boulder Roubaix success as a road race?

There has been a lot of discussion on Status on the 2009 Boulder Roubaix in that it is canceled in 09. For ease of communication this forum thread is for continuing the Roubaix discussion and the issues around Roubaix/road races.

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Let us keep the posts on this subject coming. Maybe the more of us Road Race enthusiasts speak up, the better the chances are that Chris will “hear our cries” to bring these races back to us on a yearly basis.

“geezuz”, “whats” both your “frakkin” problem “anyways”. Since “theres” “a ton of cyclists, but no races”, stop your “frakkin” “whining” and be “part of the solution” by contacting Chris Grealish to tell him that you are gong to take his courses and start using them for your own “frakin” road races.

Here is some advice for the both of you, my anonymous friends: you best be ready to duck.

“Anyways”, if both of you would take the time to inform yourself (see the ACA website) you would find that the ACA for 2009 has 8 Road Races (this includes 2 Circuit Races), 6 Hill Climbs (those are just road races that mostly go up) and two Stage Races. One of the latter includes a RR while the other includes a RR and a Circuit Race. So this makes for 17 Road events. Compare that to only 15 crits.

So you see that we in Colorado have plenty of races. However, since we are so spoiled, we are trying to get even more races; especially those organized by Chris Grealish. You know why we want Chris to do the Boulder Roubaix, the Boulder RR and the Cateye RR? That is simple, my anonymous friends. That is because Chris is one of the best race events organizers in our state; that’s why. Anybody else “stepping up to the plate” is just not the same thing.

Problem with only doing Roubaix every other year, is that nobody can touch it on the off years...
We need a new of promoter to consistently promote good races, year after year. No prizelist necessary. Just a good hard course and good organization!

* Short Hill Climbs are not Road Races! They are short Hill Climbs.
* One Hour Long Circuit Races are not Road Races! They are more close to a Crit then a Road Race.
We only have 2 or 3 single day Road Races within 2 hours of the Front Range. Need about 5 more!

Promoting races, especially road races, in Colorado has to be extremely difficult and frustrating for promoters (not to mention costly). I, too, love road races and wish we had more of them. I think the problem is that it's so much easier to get a crit going in this state than it is a road race, so that's why we tend to have so many crits. In order to have more road races, we need people with a true love for the sport (like Chris, et. al) who are willing to take the risk it takes to get a good road race going. That's easier said than done. I approached Stephen Haydel a couple of years ago about the prospect of taking over the Gore Pass race and the word was that CHP would only allow it after Labor Day. Well, since Stephen couldn't get enough racers to support that race in September to make it worthwhile, it seemed highly unlikely that someone with no promoting experience (ie. me) would be able to do so. If I could get some others that would be willing to share the risk AND I had a good feeling that people would show up, I might try it. But, it's been shown year after year that racers in Colorado shut down after Labor Day and/or they're ready for CX. I don't get it, since the fall is the some of the nicest weather we have and would be great for road racing.

Chris puts on some excellent races and I hope he considers bringing these (and more) races back. I like Harry's idea. How about some sore of Colorado Road Race Promoter's Fund? I'll pledge $100/year to the fund. :-)

Did you know that there is actually a small community in the Black Hills in SD that is named Roubaix? It is located just south of Deadwood and 383 miles from Boulder. Now that would make for a REAL Boulder-Roubaix, wouldn’t it?

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